A PLUCKY BOY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 116, 10 February 1919, Page 6

A PLUCKY BOY

STORY OF TORPEDOED SHIP. The story of the remarkable pluck of a ships butcher boy has been told in tiigland by k commanding ofiieer who picked up four officers and 17 hands, survivors from a British steamer torpedoed 500 miles from land. At tho time of the explosion the lad, whoso ace is about 18 was three decks down. His boots and scckevere blown off, his feet were burned, his right ankle sprained, and his left broken. All round him was chaos. Crawling on his hands and knees he reached some , ' deck planking, which-lie placed at an angle to reach the open bulkhead overhead. Up this he intended to crawl Hearing moaning he searched on hands and knees, and found the pantry bny almost unconscious. He got him on to his back and managed to scramble up the improvised ladder to the deck. After being put into a boat the butchc-r lad lay still and behaved with wonderful nluclt. Not until he had been in tho boat for 20 hours was the «f hi? nnkiwi discovered. When iwked how he ns srettiii',' on ho replied, '\'!hnm:iion." "It has not been my good fortune to com" across a (iner displav of enurasp. endurnnce, and calm suffering," says the C.O.'s report.